Beyond Black and White: A Pokémon Odyssey
by Vinyourg
Summary: In a secret Rocket Base, an experiment is carried out on a solitary subject. The result: a man with the abilities of the legendary Pokémon. The man, code-named Archaeleus, searches for his missing past as he tries to evade Team Rocket.
1. Chapter 1

"That cannot be. You said we were partners. We stood as equals."

"You were created by humans to _obey_ humans. You could _never_ be our equal."

"Humans may have created me...But they will never enslave me! This cannot be my destiny!"

"Stop this now!"

"I was not born a Pokémon, I was created! And my creators have used and betrayed me!

_I stand alone._"

* * *

PKMN ODYSSEY - CH. 1

* * *

"Dr. Blaustein, explain to me what I am about to see."

"Er, certainly. I will try to tone down the technicalities, but bear in mind you might have to hear a few."

"Hmph."

Deep within the halls of an underground base, Giovanni walked smoothly and quietly along the dark hallway beside his head scientist. The two men were the only living people walking along the long, metal hallway. In fact, they were the only two people in the building at all. Before Giovanni had arrived, the head scientist had taken precautions by evacuating every personnel and activating every security measure short of nuclear devices. Now, Dr. Blaustein hovered close by, his thin frame shaking inside his lab coat, extremely agitated about what he was about to show.

"Blaustein, I know that you are Dr. Fuji's protégé and extremely valuable, but if you continue to prance about like a schoolboy in front of his naked sisters, I shall have you shot. Walk normally."

Dr. Blaustien's feet immediately slowed down and his arms stopped bouncing.

"Apologies?"

Giovanni simply gave another _hmph_ and looked towards Blaustein, indicating to him to go on. He then resumed looking forward, as if he were ignoring him

"Do you remember the time when the subject Mew-Two was being created? On the secret island?"

Giovanni gave a sigh. The infamous subject Mewtwo was never something Giovanni could quite believe, but Blaustein told him that this was natural: Mewtwo had wiped Giovanni's memories, along with all his soldiers and scientists, but Blaustein had been nowhere close. He was also the only other person to know the existence of Mewtwo, since he was the protégé of Dr. Fuji, the creator of Mewtwo.

"Ah, the limitless potential that Pokémon had!" Giovanni said. "World domination would have been a walk in the park had he not decided to...blow up my bases and escape. Not even the so-called psychic people of the Saffron Gym could lay claim to his power."

"Indeed," Blaustein said quickly a little too quickly. "Well, Mewtwo didn't destroy everything on the island, as you know. It was in ruins, but there was information that could be salvaged from it. Pictures, a fried computer chip here and there, even the bodies of the dead scientists themselves all provided me with information.

As far as I recall, you had called off your PSI Project a couple of days after Mewtwo escaped. You had no idea why such a project existed after your memory wipe, so you got rid of it. But before you did, I began a secret project of my own."

"You did?" Giovanni turned towards Blaustein swiftly. "Are you the reason why my funds were peculiarly drained during that year?"

The hallway that the two men were walking along did not provide enough light to show Giovanni's face. Neverthless, Blaustein quaked under Giovanni's rock-hard gaze, even though he could not see his eyes at all. Better to tell the truth, rather than lie.

"Yes. I did."

There were several seconds of silence, then Giovanni spoke. "The next time you steal funds from me, I will certainly have you shot. For real. Never do it again."

"I won't. I won't ever have to again, I'm finished with my project."

"Again, the bloody PSI Project. Get to the point."

"Alright, alright!"

Dr. Blaustein attempted to smooth his wrinkled lab coat out, but only succeeded in making himself look more nervous.

"Mewtwo was created from the DNA of the original, Mew. An imperfect clone with only Psychic powers. Mew, on the other hand, seems to contain the genetic composition of every single creature on this planet. If Mew is as old as legends have told of him, than he will certainly leave traces of himself all over the Earth. And he has, in the form of all other life on this planet. His DNA, the ruins, legends, and endless research by Dr. Fuji and me helped create another subject."

"Another Mewtwo?"

For the first time since Giovanni had known him, Dr. Blaustien smiled, and Giovanni saw the ghost of Dr. Fuji in this young scientist. A twist of desperation, mixed with the need to _know_ that every scientist had, but more so in this man. Dr. Fuji was desperate to save his child, but what drove Blaustien?

"Better."

Giovanni was tired of the cryptic hints that Blaustien was dropping. His hand slipped casually inside his tailored suit, stroking the Pokéball that held his fighting Pokémon, Machamp.

"How is it better?"

But Dr. Blaustein refused to say anymore.

"You will have to see it for yourself."

In front of them, a door slowly came into view from the darkness. Dr. Blaustein fished his access card out of his lab coat and deftly swiped it across a scanner. The scanner opened, and a keypad appeared. Dr. Blaustien quickly typed in a sixteen-number combination, which Giovanni noted in interest. Finally, a retinal scanner appeared from behind the keypad, and Dr. Blaustien lowered his frame to match up with the scanner. All the while, a wall tile opened up and revealed a turret, pointing directly at Blaustien.

"I can see the reason why my funds were drained quickly," Giovanni said. "Is it really necessary to create these security measures for an underground base no one knows of?"

"Trust me," Dr. Blaustien muttered. "It's not getting in that's hard, it's getting out. _That_ is where your funds went. You'll see why."

The retinal scanner gave a beep, and the double doors clicked. Dr. Blaustein opened the door and waited.

"Shall we, boss?"

Giovanni took a step into the darkness, and immediately, lights started flickering on. Everywhere on the wall, little notes were tacked on beside pictures of Mewtwo and another Pokémon. Sheets of data and observations were scattered all over the floor. A fan whirred lazily from the ceiling, and more notes were hanging from it. Off to the right side, there was a lone table holding countless documents, all neatly piled in stark contrast to the papers on the ground. On the left side, a giant computer stood, powered on and humming contentedly. The whole place was such a mess, an intruder would have difficulty finding anything.

Giovanni was not interested in any of this. He had been on a few campaigns personally, especially when he went to train his own Pokémon. What was in front of him interested him more than anything else.

The lights finally flickered at the end of the room, revealing what had been hidden in darkness for so long.

Giovanni stumbled.

"Sir!" Dr. Blaustein panicked and ran over, leaving the door open. Before he could offer Giovanni a hand, Giovanni plunged his hands into his jacket and took out his Pokéball containing Machamp. With a flick of his wrist, Machamp came out, and caught Blaustein by the wrist.

"Alone! Leave me alone!" Giovanni shouted.

"Sir? Are you...alright?"

"I'm fine...just your accursed mess of papers."

Both men knew that Giovanni was lying. When Giovanni saw what was at the end of the room, he had had a flashback. He was disturbed so much it had actually brought him to his knees.

Something living, hooked up to wires and body armour. Enslavement. A great explosion.

Giovanni stayed still and tried to hold it in, but his repressed memory slid back into his subconscious, leaving him with nothing.

Giovanni spoke. "You have created something powerful, far more than any human or Pokémon. It is in that container ahead of me." Giovanni pointed a finger.

"How did you know?" Blaustein spluttered. "I was going to surprise you."

"Because...because...I don't know. But it's in there."

At the other end of the room, a mock jail cell stood. It was surrounded by hundreds of automatic turrets, all deactivated at the moment. A single lit bulb hung from the ceiling of the cell above a single bunk. Countless IV bags stood still, hooked to the roof of the cell. Several intravenous lines ran directly from the bags, straight towards the middle of the cell, towards the bunk, where a man lay.

Giovanni was silent for a minute as he walked towards the jail room, brushing aside all papers with his foot, while Blaustein stayed where he was, restrained by Machamp. He watched the man, sleeping peacefully, as if content with his existence. In the past, his organization had kidnapped people for ransom, but this thin, gaunt man with long hair was unfamiliar to him.

"Alright, doctor. Finish your explanation. Why is there a man in this...room?"

No sound. Giovanni turned around and found that Machamp was now holding Dr. Blaustein's mouth in an attempt to suffocate him.

"Machamp, release the doctor. He is not an enemy."

With a disappointed grunt, the four-armed, muscled Pokémon released Blaustein. Gasping, Blustein immediately put distance between himself and Machamp. Machamp assumed a sitting position and stared at Blaustein, vigilant of every movement. Blaustein took a breath, readying himself.

It was time for the words. The words that would change everything.

"Spit it out, Blaustein." Giovanni commanded.

So much for subtlety.

"Mewtwo was created from the DNA of the legendary Mew, a creature told to possess the genetic composition of every Pokémon in the world. By itself, Mewtwo was a formidable force that favoured Psychic powers, and capable of destroying islands with a mere thought. A Pokémon that, in theory, was capable of wielding the elements in a way that the Greeks have for so long tried to do. A raging wildfire, a storm on the ocean, a bone-shaking earthquake, there was nothing Mewtwo could not manipulate."

Blaustien took one more breath.

"_But why a Pokémon? Why can't humans do what Pokémon can do?"_

Giovanni knew what was coming next. "And here is a human who can control the elements."

There was a silence. Again.

Blaustien knew this was extremely risky, but his boss would accept the risks. He raised his hands, holding his access card.

"Would you like to speak with Archelaus?"

* * *

Without waiting for an answer, Blaustein walked towards the computer. He booted up the computer and waited patiently for the screen to fade into being. Behind him, Giovanni stood outside the cell, watching the man sleep. His expression was unreadable, but his twiddling fingers gave him away. Whatever lay in front of him was a key of destiny, and it could unlock salvation, or bring his ruin.

He tried to put his hand through the bar, but his fingers froze just a few inches from the bars. No matter how hard he pushed, it seemed that an inflexible air pushed against his fingers. The closest experience that Giovanni had to this inflexibility was metal pushing against a magnet, usually at airport security.

Without looking up, Blaustien said, "No point in trying."

"Is this part of your security, Dr. Blaustien?" Giovanni asked.

"Yes. Advanced zero-point energy barrier that I've worked on for, say, twenty years."

"Your perseverance is strong. Twenty years is quite a long time." Giovanni noted.

"It would be if you tried to do it on your own." Dr. Blaustien said, cherishing the compliment Giovanni gave. "And yet, this barrier is not finished. Just almost."

"Almost?" Giovanni asked, slightly worried.

"It still requires energy. I am attempting to make it energy free, but that would destroy several laws of conservation. And it must be given at a constant and yet correct amount. Too much and it expands and will crush you. Too little and what is the point of it? Oh, there is more, but I am just bringing the technicalities down, as I said I would." Blaustien finished typing and swiped his access card across a scanner on his computer tower, and the door clicked. At the same time, every machine gun turret suddenly swung up. Half of the guns pointed at the door, the other half pointed towards the man known as Archaeleus. "You may speak with him."

Giovanni was quiet for a moment, than spoke dryly. "Forgive me, but Archaeleus seems to be unconscious. How the hell do I speak to him?"

"Oh," Dr. Blaustein was flustered for a moment, but recovered. "He is similar to Mewtwo, in that he seems to favour Psychic powers. When you enter, you should be able to speak with him using only your mind."

"If he is capable of telepathy," Giovanni said, "then how do I know I'll come back out of this cage sane, or alive? The last Psychic creature I underestimated crushed my base."

"That is not a problem. He is sedated, you see?" Dr. Blaustien pointed to the bags. "Sedated enough to limit physical actions, remove the majority of his telekinesis, and yet allow minor telepathy. Conversation is possible. Go on, talk to him, I have to set up scanners." Blaustien turned back to the computer screen and resumed typing. "And for goodness sake, put your lackey back into its Pokéball. If Archaeleus' powers are really awake, than your Fighting Pokémon doesn't stand a chance."

Giovanni noted the impolite manner in which the scientist had addressed him in the last few sentences as he entered the cage. He made a mental note to him, "_Put him in a stranglehold and teach him some manners later."_

"_Sorry, but I'd rather not be strangled to death in my sleep."_

Giovanni was momentarily surprised, but recovered. For communication, it seemed that thoughts were sufficient enough to talk to Archaeleus, no matter how small the thoughts were.

"_Is that you, Archaeleus?"_

"_Yes. Who are you?"_

"_I go by the name of Giovanni. And you are Archaeleus."_

"_No duh. What do you think?"_

Giovanni noted the sharp tongue, or rather, the mind that Archaeleus had. If any more soldiers were to be made like Archaeleus, they would have to undergo a therapy session to reduce the sharpness.

"_Oh, I'm sorry, am I breaking your concentration? What was all that about soldiers?"_

"_Nothing...on second thoughts, forget it. There is no point in hiding my intentions."_

"_I'm listening."_

"_I am a crime boss. I lead an organization called Team Rocket, and we are dedicated to taking over the world using Pokémon."_

"_Cut the crap. That sounds like a cheap movie plot device for a problem. Team Rocket? What do rockets have to do with your intention unless you're going to strap bombs to every Zubat in the world, fly in a rocket, and drop them on a city?_

Giovanni winced.

"_Anyways, you were saying about intentions?"_

"_Ah, yes. You are correct: it's a cheap method for taking over the world, and not very efficient. So I funded a team of scientists to start the PSI Project in hopes that abilities of Pokémon could be successfully recreated by humans without any outside aid. You are the proof that this is possible._

_Now, tell me a bit more about yourself, will you?"_

_"Too short of an introduction. Tell me more. I demand to see your past."_

Giovanni stood rock still, trying desperately to block out the images in his mind. Pictures of his past flashed in his mind, people that he loved and no longer loved, his moments of failed and triumph. His life was meant to be private, but Archaeleus saw and remembered every memory Giovanni unwittingly showed him.

_"You've thought a lot in less than ten seconds, Giovanni. You can simply step outside this cage if you wanted."_

_"It's too late to take it back." _Giovanni thought sadly.

_"Well, at least you're not backing down like a coward."_

_"If I hadn't been a coward in my earlier years, maybe my life would have been different."_

_"Don't go there. I hate philosophical conversations."_

_"You do? That's nice to know about you. Can you tell me more about yourself?"_

There was a momentary silence. Archaeleus slept peacefully on the bunk, but Giovanni got the impression that his mind was churning furiously. Finally, Archaeleus answered, frustrated.

_"I don't know. Nothing_ _at all. I don't think I was in this chamber for my entire life, otherwise, how could I speak English? Have an adult body? And yet, I can't remember anything outside this chamber."_

_"A memory wipe? Amnesia?"_

_"Probably. It's the only explanation I could think of. That or else I'm suffering a permanent hallucination. I wish I knew, because if I was, I could swear and blow up as much stuff as I want."_

_"Not if it were a permanent hallucination. If it is permanent, you might as well make that into your new reality."_

_"Oh no, please don't. I've had enough of that with Blaustien."_

_"Really? How long have you been here?"_

"_Don't know."_

"_You seem to lack plenty of information that I was looking for in Blaustien. Nice..."_

Giovanni wanted to say _nice talking to you_, but clearly he wasn't. Instead, he opted to walk out of the cage as silently as he could.

"_Hey. Pizza Guy. Giovanni. I've got one more thing I wanna say to you."_

Barely a foot before the door, Giovanni halted in half-step.

"_This might be the last chance I ever get to communicate with someone who's not Blaustien, so I'll make these my last words. I hate you. I absolutely hate you. I'm getting a really bad vibe from you. I bet you wouldn't show a shred of mercy or compassion if you couldn't find some sort of advantage. You're a cesspit of moral filth."_

Around Archaeleus' body, the IV lines started to shake. Giovanni felt the loosest parts of his clothes pulling towards Archaeleus. He had never even heard the word _cesspit_ (who has?) before, but he could guess that it wasn`t pleasant.

_"I know the world's not black and white. Everyone has reasons, everyone always has some ambiguity to them. But you're the blackest person I've ever seen, and you'll probably be that way for the rest of your life."_

_"I'll take that as a compliment, Archaeleus. Goodbye."_

And with that, Giovanni walked out, never looking back.

* * *

Dr. Blaustien was concentrating on the text that appeared on his screen, and didn't notice Giovanni walking up to him.

"Blaustien."

Dr. Blaustien jumped. "Yes, boss?"

"I have a question and an order for you. Just a curiosity question. Does he have any dreams? Any goals in life?"

Blaustien thought for a moment.

"He wants to be a hero and see the world. Putting the two together, I suppose he wants to become the world's hero," Blaustien said. "I think deep inside of him, he believes he was turned into a living weapon, created only to serve others. He wants to fight against that sort of conditioning."

"A sad goal...although it does have a romantic feel to it..." Giovanni mused. "Which is rather unfortunate. I want you to kill the test subject. That is an order." Giovanni said resolutely.

Blaustien was blank for a moment. Then he was dumbfounded.

"But Boss! Do you have idea of the importance, the significance of this experiment?

"I do. More than any experiment I've seen in the past. All the years spent capturing Pokémon, experimenting on them, creating prototype robotics, none of that can compare to this. You can keep all the data you've mined from this project, all the jot notes, documents, and even programs you've made for administering your sedatives and all. But Archaeleus has to go. Kill him before sundown today."

"But why –"

"Is the word _kill_ too strong for you? Euthanize him, service the enemy, _kill him. _You do remember the terms of our _agreement_, don't you?" Giovanni whispered.

Giovanni walked off through the door, with absolutely no change in his pace. Behind him, his Machamp got up silently, growled for a second, than lumbered after Giovanni, leaving the distraught Blaustein behind.

* * *

Don't expect regular updates on this story. This was just a spur of the moment idea that came to me, and it gave me a headache until I got it in text. Please review constructively.

I also apologize in advance for any minor canonical mistakes I might have made.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Despite the fact that he was about ten pounds lighter than the average weight for adult males, Archaeleus woke up rather quickly. He blinked twice, then struggled to remove himself from his bed. As he sat up, he noticed that only one IV line was left attached to him, in his right shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Archaeleus grabbed the line and slowly extracted it until it was clear of his body, then he dropped it.

"Hello?"

For the first time since he could remember, he was alone. The laboratory was lit and the computer screen was on. Upon glancing the screen, Archaeleus noticed a message on it. He squinted and struggled to piece the letters together, as it had been a ridiculously long time since he had last read. After a minute or so, he finally managed to decipher the words that lay on the screen.

'_DEAR ARCHAELEUS,_

_YOU MUST ESCAPE BEFORE SUNSET. THE DOOR IS UNLOCKED, THE TURRETS ARE OFF, AND THERE ARE NO GUARDS, BUT THE SECURITY OUTSIDE THIS ROOM IS STILL ACTIVE. UNDERNEATH YOUR BED, I HAVE LEFT A SMALL BACKPACK CONTAINING THE ESSENTIALS FOR TRAVELLING._

_YOU ARE ON AN ISLAND. GO NORTH, ACROSS THE OCEAN, AND LOOK FOR A MAN NAMED OAK. TELL HIM THE EVERYTHING, THE TRUTH, AND ASK FOR SHELTER. _

_DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU SEE IN THIS LABORATORY. MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOU ESCAPED VIOLENTLY._

_MATEL BLAUSTEIN._

Archaeleus stared at the screen for several minutes, letting the meaning of the message sink in fully. He had always wanted to leave this small world and see the one outside, but it was difficult for him to accept this sudden change. One small tear fell down his cheek before he blinked quickly and wiped his eyes.

"_There's no time to waste," _Archaeleus thought. _"I'd better get going."_

Archaeleus got off his bed, turned around and looked. His bed was basically a hunk of metal, as solid as a rock. Blaustien had said there would be a backpack underneath, but Archaeleus had slept and knocked the metal enough times to know it was not hollow. There were no cupboards or drawers anywhere. So where was the backpack?

"_Think about that sentence," _Archaeleus thought. _"Underneath...under, below, beneath. Not inside the bed. Under it."_

Archaeleus had not used his powers for a long time, but they were as natural to him as breathing. In his mind's eye, he saw his psychic powers as a blue, free-forming substance, neither liquid nor gas, that could be shaped into anything. There were two ways for him to use his powers that he knew of: One was by his mind's eyes, in which he saw the environment and manipulated the energy to his will. The other way was to simply force his psychic vision into his open eyes and use direct body motions to push the light. It was easier and more direct, but he had less fine control and he needed his body to do it, which might exhaust him. The visualization technique required no movement at all and was less exhaustive.

Closing his eyes, he envisioned the room he was standing in, complete with the bed in the middle and the lightbulb swinging from the roof. Gritting his teeth, he superimposed an imaginary image of his hand over the bed, imagining the hand was moving up, holding the bed. The blue light converged onto his imaginary hand, moving as naturally as the wind.

In the real world, the bed shuddered for a moment before it levitated, following the motions that Archaeleus made. The bed rose too high and bumped into the light bulb, but Archaeleus was too thrilled to notice. He had never lifted an object this large before, only small balls and dice that Blaustien had placed in his cell. He continued to test his powers by rotating the bed and bouncing it up and down, giggling like a child who had found his lost toy. Eventually, Blaustien looked back.

Where the bed once stood, there was a small hole in the concrete. Blaustein set the bed down by the cell door and went to retrieve the backpack. He lifted the backpack and secured it onto his back. Blaustien looked one more time in the hole and saw a small note that he had missed. He picked it up gently and unfolded it until it was the size of his hand.

"_P.S: i will miss you terribly. take care Arch, and please don't hurt anyone with your powers. go on and chase your dreams."_

This time, the tears that Archaeleus had been holding back finally came out. He did not know this, but for the first time in his life, he cried tears of emotion.

* * *

Time for a jail breakout.

Archaeleus tried to step out of his jail cell, but froze at the door. "_The stupid scientist left the barrier on!" _he thought. For a long time, Archaeleus stood at the door and tried to think of a way past the barrier when until he finally realised there was no barrier. It was his imagination that imposed a barrier on this door. He was so used to imprisonment that he had almost forgotten how to be free. Taking a deep breath, Archaeleus put one foot out the door, than the other foot out. He was free!

Archaeleus had not forgotten what Blaustien had asked him to do. Raising his hand, he made an open-handed motion that swept all the turrets aside, knocking them against the wall. Papers flew everywhere as his psychic powers brushed the floor and created a gust of wind. For added safety, he rubbed two hands together and squished the turrets into a giant metal ball. Next, he faced the screen and punched it as hard as he could, but only succeeded in creating a small fist-sized hole in the screen. Archaeleus was momentarily confused until he remembered to relax his fist. He tried it punching again, but this time, his relaxed fist translated his psychic powers into a giant blast that destroyed the entire screen. He was sure to aim for the computer tower as well. The tower was more important than the screen.

Archaeleus turned around to face his cell. Maybe he should have pretended to break out of the cell, but it was too late now. With a vengeance, Archaeleus sliced the cell in half with a swift hand motion, then he repeated the action several times until nothing was left of the cell but bars and blocks of metal. It felt _good_ to slice up his home, his bleak, unforgiving home.

Archaeleus looked around the lab again and was unsatisfied. _"This place needs a really good funeral. Like a bomb went off or something." _Closing his eyes again, he visualised the room, then gathered the light into a compressed ball. With a shout, Archaeleus pushed outward, exploding the very air in front of him like a bomb. The ground and walls cracked, the ceiling shook ominously, and the papers flew around at a fantastic speed. The metal ball separated into hundreds of metal pieces and flew around as well, adding to the carnage. Archaeleus quickly visualised a ball of light covering his body, protecting himself against the maelstrom of metal.

Unfortunately, Archaeleus had forgotten to protect the lights as well. The metal pieces destroyed every single bulb and plunged the room back into darkness. A shower of glass, tungsten wire, and sparks rained everywhere and set fires to the paper. Combined with the wind from Archaeleus' push, the fires grew extremely quickly and threatened to consume the lab entirely. Archaeleus was not accustomed to warmth and started sweating as the fires grew. Maintaining his barrier around him, Archaeleus scooped all the individual fires into one area, resulting in a behemoth bonfire. He then delivered a psychic slam from above which flattened the fire completely and extinguished it from existence. Ashes blew from the spot and covered the entire lab in soot. Now the lab was properly destroyed. And dark.

Archaeleus didn`t worry too much. Darkness was the same as closing his eyes to him. He could still see, using the blue light in his mind's eye as a reference point for objects. Archaeleus decided it would be prudent to check the contents of his backpack. He swung his backpack off in front of him and zipped it open. He took out the first object and inspected it.

A pair of socks and shoes. Archaeleus bent down and slipped his feet into the socks, wriggling his toes inside. Then he slipped his feet into the brand-new shoes. The shoes fit his foot size perfectly. Imagine how bloody his feet would have been if he had looked in his backpack after he got out.

An abundance of ration bars. Enough to feed him for two or three days.

A map. Archaeleus focused his powers to make out the individual ridges and ink marks in the map. The map slowly came into view. He scanned the map for a minute or so before he finally found the island Blaustien had mentioned. It was at the bottom-left corner, a tiny blot of land named _Cinnabar Island _amidst the ocean. That island was where he was. Probably. But wait! There was another island off to the right. Which one? Archaeleus decided he would be able to see which island he was on when he got to the surface.

Last object. Archaeleus pulled out a pair of black gloves stuck together. They seemed like ordinary leather gloves to his eye, but when he held them, his body started to shiver uncontrollably. Archaeleus closed his eyes and looked at the gloves with his mind's eye, and yelled in shock as he dropped the gloves. He had seen an immense amount of blue light, so much it had almost blinded him.

_"I had better be careful with these gloves." _Archaeleus thought. Archaeleus blindly searched for the gloves until his hands brushed them. Since the gloves were stuck together, Archaeleus peeled them apart. As he did, a small note fell out. Archaeleus picked it up and read it:

_"in the event that you are being attacked and your psychic powers are not powerful enough to help, put these gloves on. They are intended only and ONLY as a last resort."_

Archaeleus placed the gloves carefully at the bottom of the backpack, then repacked everything else he had taken out. The backpack seemed to have suddenly shrunk, and it took all of Archaeleus physical strength to stuff everything back in. He kept the map out, folding it and placing them into his pockets.

Archaeleus suddenly froze as his hands entered his pockets. "_I have_ _pockets?"_ Archaeleus thought. Archaeleus inspected his clothes. They seemed remarkably casual. A long pair of pants and a shirt. The pants had pockets; the shirt was remarkably resilient to wear and tear; now he had socks and shoes to complete the outfit. He had assumed that he wore grey colours because they were neutral, but white clothes would have been more professional. He could pass off as an ordinary traveler if he tried.

"_Had Blaustien planned this for the past three years, creating the gloves and digging a hole underneath the bed? Come to think of it, he didn't actually tell me much about himself. He never told me what his motives were for creating me. Does he have family?"_

Archaeleus looked up and saw the hallway with his mind's eye, since the blue light suddenly funnelled into a rectangular shape. The door that led out of the room had been torn aside. Archaeleus psychically lifted a sheet of metal from his jail cell wall, hovered it in front of him, then ran out the door, ready to take on the world.

He didn't look back once.


	3. Chapter 3

3

At nightfall, two teenagers decided to sneak out of their refuge center and smoke in secret. Evading the nurses at the Pokémon Center, they picked their way across the desolate town, all the way into the abandoned mansion that stood roughly west on the island. The first boy, a muscular, tall, and blond-haired figure, carried their supply of cigarettes, while the second boy, the short, quick, and brown-haired figure, carried the matches and an emergency lighter. Both of them were best friends, but both of them were also remarkably dumb.

At the entrance, the brown-haired teenager tossed a pack of matches to his friends, while he lit his own cigarette at the same time. Both of them sat by the entrance for a long time, watching for any outside activity while relaxing at the same time.

"Hey, Matt," the brown-haired kid asked. "Do you think we should go in farther? Farther into the mansion, just to make sure no one sees us by the window?"

"Relax, Jake. Just smoke your cigarette and chill out." Matt said. "No one's likely to come by this place, and even if they do, we'll spot them off a long way before they see us."

"It's not just that. I also kinda wanna see if the rumours of this mansion are true." Jake said quietly.

"Like what, man?"

"The official records state that the town in Cinnabar Island was mainly destroyed by a volcano eruption. But some other people are saying that it wasn't a volcano, but a super-duper Pokémon that escaped from this mansion and blew everything up. There's another rumour about a bunch of mad scientists who live here."

"Jake, those rumours are makin' a monkey out of ya. It really was a volcano that destroyed this island, you dumb retard. Although I sort of half-believe the rumour about scientists in this building."

"Half-believe? Matt, I swear I saw a person come into this building once. He had a white lab coat on, like those ruddy doctors and nurses in the Pokémon center. I haven't seen him come out. Ever."

Matt shivered.

"Somethin' wrong, Matt?"

"No, not that. Stay quiet. Can you hear that rumbling?"

"That's probably your stomach, Matt, the way that you –"Jake froze and listened as hard as he could for the stomach rumbling, but it wasn't coming from Matt. It was coming from below him. His cigarette fell out of his mouth.

"Aw man, this can't be good."

* * *

Indeed, it wasn't good. Archaeleus could sense that the surface was close and decided to take a shortcut by blasting his way through the ceiling. This time, he kept his fist fairly tight as he concentrated his powers into a door-sized psychic fist, than pushed as hard as he could. The metal ceiling crumpled like tin foil and exploded away from Archaeleus. Bits of dirt fell as the chaos settled. Archaeleus could see the roof of a mansion above him.

Now, here was another test he had been dying to try. Archaeleus had theorised how he could use his psychic powers to augment any physical abilities he had, but Blaustien never dared to do those kinds of experiments. After all, Blaustien did not want his only test subject to escape prematurely. Archaeleus could punch, slap, and even grab using his psychic powers, but could it help him jump?

Archaeleus closed his eyes and gathered the light at his feet. His idea was to create a platform under his feet, then raise that platform until he reached the edge. He decided that jumping was a bit dangerous, since he couldn't control how high he wanted to jump. A platform would be a bit safer. Archaeleus struggled to flatten out the light until it resembled a platform in his mind's eye, then he stepped on it. It was tough for him to maintain this platform, as evidenced by the sweat that gathered on his forehead.

What Archaeleus failed to realise before that even though he could move the light around, forming solid objects with it was still beyond his reach. He was not versed well enough in his powers to create solid constructs, like a psychic sword, a pair of wings, stairs, or even the platform. The moment he stepped on the platform, his concentration broke and the light promptly exploded underneath him, forcing him to flail in the air as he was propelled out the hole. He didn't even have enough time to say _oh dear._

By some miracle, Archaeleus had used the right of amount of force and barely cleared the hole. Archaeleus barely paused to examine the mansion he was in, then he ran for the entrance. On the way, he passed two boys, both of them unconscious.

"Sorry, fellas." Archaeleus barely mumbled, pausing to give a quick nod to them before he continued on. He pushed the door open and fled into the dying sunlight as if it were his last hope in life.

* * *

Later on, daylight would rise and the two boys would be caught by the small search team stationed on Cinnabar Island. Jake would wildly claim that a huge explosion had knocked him out, but the mansion was already so decrepit, no one could see where the explosion had taken place. The search team quickly hand-cuffed the two friends, brought them back to the Pokémon Center, and presented evidence of them purchasing cigarettes, even though they were underage.

* * *

_"Alright. I'm out. Now what? I'm supposed to get out and go north, across the ocean .I have to do this before sunset, or otherwise I'll be caught. How do I cross an ocean?"_

Archaeleus continued to run north, thinking furiously all the time. Blaustien was good at preparing stuff, but he doubted that the scientist would have arranged transportation off the island. There wouldn't be a boat waiting for him.

_"Maybe I can take a hostage and demand passage across...nah, too risky. Should I sneak aboard? Possible. Maybe I can find a small boat and steal it for myself. I'd return somehow. Or I could swim, I have psychic powers to help...heck no, I'm not drowning just after I got out of that place."_

Archaeleus continued to balance his options as he ran. A ruined town was coming into sight now. The town had previously been a tourist trap, a pit stop for sailors, and the location of the Cinnabar Gym, a challenge for Pokémon Trainers who wished to pit their own Pokémon against the fiery will of the Gym leader, Blaine. However, a volcano had recently erupted and destroyed everything on the island, except for the local Pokémon Center. Archaeleus ran past the first building and kept close to the sides of the road to avoid being spotted.

Archaeleus realised that the map didn't accurately represent the size of Cinnabar Island when he reached the northern shore in fifteen minutes. Cinnabar Island was smaller than he thought before. A dock came into view as he continued to run forward. Right now, there was only a lone merchant ship, refuelling and getting ready to set sail. Sailors ran around, shouting orders to each other. A few companion Pokémon were wandering around, examining the boat and interacting with the other Pokémon in the sea. Everyone seemed to be wandering around the left side of the boat, leaving the right side open.

"_Alright then," _Archaleus thought. _"I'm sneaking aboard."_

Archaeleus knew he could easily sneak aboard the ship. Walking as casually as he could, all the sailors he encountered ignored him, concentrating on their own tasks. As he walked up towards, he disappeared off to the right side. Making sure no one was watching, he grabbed hold of the ladder and hauled himself over onto the deck. Before anyone could look back, Archaeleus ran towards the stairs descending into the ship and disappeared into the black shadows.

* * *

On the deck, Alex slowly woke up, yawning loudly as he did. The sun was setting, but he had already filled his required sleeping time, so he was in no mood to sleep through the night. Brushing his leather jacket, Alex pushed himself to a standing position and examined the boat he was standing in, tilting his fedora up so he could see.

The reason why Alexander Gabriel was aboard the ship was because he had been hired to protect the ship. Alex was a mercenary who favoured close to medium combat and non-fatal strategies and techniques. He was well-known to the criminal underworld and the police, and both sides respected his skill. Alex was also noted for being one of the few humans that did not own any Pokémon, an extremely rare case of a person who had refused adhere to the norm. The occasional criminal or law enforcer who did not know him would first notice his muscular frame, his relaxed state (hands in pocket, slouching slightly), the sardonic smile that mocked life, and the fedora that covered his unusually bright red hair first. If anyone ever commented badly about his red hair, his smile and the non-fatal stance disappeared and they were as good as dead.

Alex was respected but hated by both sides so much because he lent his services to anyone who would pay. No respectable criminal boss would hire him because of the danger of losing trade secrets. Likewise, the police were unsure of his allegiances and usually refused his services. Alex had experienced the high and low ends of wealth, sometimes being as rich as a lawyer to being as poor as a beggar.

Now, still yawning, Alex ignored the sailors and descended into the ship's belly. He decided to perform a check in all the unlocked rooms, just to make sure that no explosives or intruders were waiting. He didn't have to do this, but this was his first job for two weeks, and he didn't become a good mercenary by slacking off.

Alex checked the kitchens, much to the chagrin of the cooks. He was shooed out, but he had got a good look around and didn't see anything unusual.

Next, he checked the living quarters, being careful to keep his distance this time. No bombs or unfamiliar people.

Next, engine rooms. This was a good spot for explosives, but Alex didn't see any.

Alex wondered if he should just skip the food storage room. It was close to the kitchen and the cooks didn't seem to like him. He almost turned away, but willed himself to check it. The red-haired mercenary sighed and trudged down towards the storage room.

Alex opened the door, flicked the light switch on, and scanned the room. Boxes of produce lay on the shelves, three fridges stood up against the wall, and a number of crates were placed in the middle of the room, blocking his view of the wall opposite to him. Just beyond the crate, there was an unusual shadow, shaped like a crouching human body. Someone was hiding.

The mercenary put his hands in his pockets, crouched slightly, and quietly treaded towards the crate. The shadow did not move, as if it were trying to avoid detection. But Alex had already detected it and there was no escape from him. He moved in close to the crate and crouched even more, preparing to jump over the crate.

Alex leaped above the crate like an acrobat, spun in the air, and delivered an axe kick towards the shadow, only to discover his target were actually two bags of flour. The bags of flour exploded and pushed him off balance, and Alex fell to the floor with a hard thud. His fedora flew off his head and landed upside-down on the crate above him, but the rest of his clothes were not as fortunate. Alex was instantly covered with flour.

Alex groaned in pain and picked himself off the ground slowly. His face was white, but anyone could have figured out that he was red in the face with embarrassment. He brushed his hair and face as he did and reached for the fedora on top of the crate. As he went to retrieve his fedora, he spotted the shadow of a thin man standing at the entrance of the storage room. For the tiniest moment, the shadow trembled, unsure of what to do, before it turned and ran away.

Alex jammed his fedora back on his head and leapt over the crate. As he landed, he put his hands into his pockets and dashed out of the room, chasing the fleeing man with the thin shadow.

* * *

**TRIVIA**

_ARCHAELEUS:_

Latinized form of Αρχελαος, (or Archelaos), which meant "master of the people" from _αρχος (archos)_ "master" and _λαος (laos)_ "people".


	4. Chapter 4

4

Archaeleus ran as fast as he could, despite the pain that stabbed his abdomen the instant he had began running. Behind him, a ghostly character with a fedora pursued him nonchalantly, with his hands tucked into his pockets. Archaeleus ran by an upright barrel and knocked it down, and the ghost simply sidestepped it and continued running.

"Come on, I just wanna talk with you," the ghost said.

"Stop chasing me then!" Archaeleus replied.

The ghost didn't stop. Clearly, it was impossible for Archaeleus to pass himself off as lost. He was a stowaway.

Archaeleus kept running until he found his way to the deck. He ran straight into a group of sailors and he pushed his way right through, knocking down two protesting sailors. Blocked by the sailors, the ghost shouted out, "Someone stop him! He's a stowaway!"

Running towards the edge, Archaeleus took a leap of faith over the edge. Fortunately, being a rather small ship landed on the wooden dock. As he landed, he tripped, and Archaeleus crashed into the dock spectacularly.

As Archaeleus struggled to his feet, a sailor from the ship threw his Pokéball at the end of the dock, and a muscular Machoke appeared. As it materialized, the Machoke roared, clearly displeased like his owner that an intruder was around. Archaeleus had no idea that the Pokémon in front of him was so strong that it limited its strength with a unique power belt, but its huge muscles were clearly bigger than his own. Had Archaeleus known the true strength of a Machoke, he might have never made the decision to run straight towards it.

"Move it!" Archaeleus shouted.

The Machoke's only response was run towards Archaeleus, intent on catching him. _Maybe's it's deaf_, Archaeleus thought.

"_Get off the dock or I'll make you get off it!" _Archaeleus thought. The Machoke nearly tripped, surprised at the thought speech running through his mind from his prey's thought. It managed to pick itself up and jumped into the air, winding up its arm for a devastating punch. This punch would definitely kill him.

As the Machoke got closer, Archaeleus noticed a particular detail: it was wearing a belt, and had pants. On impulse, Archaeleus quickly accessed his psychic vision and was greeted with an unpleasant sight. The blue aura around Machoke was concentrated, but even so, there was so much of it that Archaeleus was sure that all the humans in the ship put together couldn't equal this one Pokémon. The only thing that prevented Machoke from stressing its own body out with its energy was the belt it wore.

The Machoke roared at Archaeleus as it descended.

Archaeleus raised his hands, palms open.

* * *

_Why is he running straight towards the Machoke? There's no way he'll survive! _Alex thought. The stowaway didn't even have any of his own Pokémon to cover his back. In Alex's mind, fighting a Pokémon by one's self was reserved only for martial art masters, suicidal people, or masochists. Even if the stowaway had a gun, or a Pokéball, or any sort of weapon at all, a wild Pokémon would not die from a gunshot wound as easily as a human would. Guns were overrated in this day and age.

The Machoke jumped high and aimed its fist at the stowaway.

The stowaway raised his hands, bracing for impact.

The Machoke landed, and the wooden dock beneath him was instantly demolished. The Machoke continued through the dock, and an explosion of water covered the entire dock. Splinters of wood flew through the air, and a long piece nearly skewered him through the head.

When the water and debris calmed down, Alex squinted into the wood. He stared harder, not sure what he was looking at. After a few moments, he finally comprehended what he was looking at.

There was no stowaway. The Machoke lay unconscious underneath the rubble. Alex looked up and saw the stowaway, who was very much alive, running back into town.

* * *

As the Machoke descended towards him, Archaeleus made a split-second decision. In less than a second, Archaeleus did two things. With his left hand, he closed his fingers and pulled the Machoce towards him so that it would overshoot its landing. With his other hand, Archaeleus punched the belt, dislodging it for a pure millisecond.

The effect was instantaneous. Every muscle in the Machoke's body became immeasurably powerful, too much for its body to handle. Every other muscle contracted, crushing every bone that it had. At the same time, its heart pumped an extraordinary amount of blood too quickly for its brain to handle, and it was unconscious in the air before it could feel the pain.

The Machoke landed behind him, demolishing the deck. Archaeleus forced him to slow down a tiny bit so that he would not trip. After the debris settled, Archaeleus ran like the wind, back into town.

He had gotten about twenty feet when a dart hit him in the neck. In another five seconds, Archaeleus fell to ground, just as unconscious as the Machoke behind him.

* * *

"Damn it." Alex said.

"Damn?" The sailor beside him inquired. "You just knocked the bugger out with a tranq dart! He's ain't going anywhere after you shot him."

"That's not the point. I didn't want to use my dart gun. Wasted a good dart I could have used on some idiot's Pokémon or a real criminal. It's bloody disappointing."

"Oh." The sailor said. "Whatever. Just tie him up and drop him off at the Pokémon Center."

"There won't be enough time. The ships leaving in two minutes." Alex pointed out.

"Your loss then. We'll still pay you, you know."

Alex stood over Archaeleus, watching him intently as his target snored like the devil. The tilted fedora blocked his eyes from view, leaving anyone to guess what he was thinking.

"I'll come on board, and I'll bring this fellow with me."


End file.
